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A close-up look at the billionaire Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone is the controversial billionaire that took the sport of Formula one motor racing to a completely new dimension and created a worldwide brand worth billions.

This documentary shows the fascinating rise to power from Ecclestone who was born into a working-class family near Suffolk in 1930. His family moved to Bexleyheath in southeast London and his entrepreneurial flair was evident from an early age as he engineered a number of ventures at school.

He became interested in motorcycles and went into business in his teens by trading spare parts of motorcycles. His skills as a businessman developed significantly and after his teen years and early 20s he developed a significant amount of wealth through property and financial investments.

This accumulation of capital allowed Eccelstone to purchase the Brabham racing team in the early 1970s and engage in a number of deals with other car companies. In 1974 Ecclestone created the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) with some partners including Frank Williams and Max Mosely. Ecclestone became the chief executive in 1978 and he continued to secure sponsorship and television deals for the organisation, this began Ecclestone’s reign as the “F1 Supremo” for Formula One.